Based upon 5 years of study to improve the preparation of secondary school English teachers, this book is intended to guide prospective teachers in the selection of courses, to suggest to experienced teachers their areas of greatest deficiency, and to help teacher educators in curriculum planning. An introduction points out the importance of a teacher who is aware of children's needs and feelings, and recounts the typical development of an English teacher from a young child to a college graduate. Chapters consider what teachers should know about language, written composition, literature, oral communication, and the theory and practice of teaching and learning English. Some topics of discussion are dialectology, grammars, misconceptions concerning the teaching of language, the process of writing, audience consideration in composition, reasons for teaching literature, necessary literary background, intensive reading, the emphasis of oral communication in Great Britain and the United States, college education courses, measurement and evaluation, and methodology. An outline of the "minimal,""good," and "superior" levels of accomplishment in knowledge and skills precedes each chapter. (This document previously announced as ED 037 467.) (LH)